


Recovered Footage from Sheikah Artefact #035

by LettersByTheLake



Series: Artist Appreciation [3]
Category: Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda) - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Gen, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Mild Blood and Injury, Sheikah Slate, Wild is the OG Vlogger, Yiga Clan - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:00:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27356140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LettersByTheLake/pseuds/LettersByTheLake
Summary: "Hi, there! I’m the Hero of the Wild, and I am here to give you your very own insider’s perspective on my latest adventure! I am here in my own time with eight other heroes, and we-““Wild, who are you speaking to?”“I don’t know, whoever sees this in the future, I guess. Historians?”
Relationships: Four & Hyrule & Legend & Sky & Time & Twilight & Warriors & Wild & Wind (Linked Universe), Legend & Warriors (Linked Universe)
Series: Artist Appreciation [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1986214
Comments: 14
Kudos: 184





	Recovered Footage from Sheikah Artefact #035

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sabro_Scribbles](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sabro_Scribbles/gifts).



> This is inspired by Graves' wonderful art which you can find [here](https://www.instagram.com/p/B7wxUE0FgY4/) and [here](https://www.instagram.com/p/B9yb3eLpIRV/?igshid=fnwy759m9dcn)! Check it out, it's all stunning!

**[Recording…]**

“Hi, there! I’m the Hero of the Wild, and I am here to give you your very own insider’s perspective on my latest adventure! I am here in my own time with eight other heroes, and we-“

“Wild, who are you speaking to?” Time’s voice comes from off-camera and Wild stops, frowning at him.

“I don’t know, whoever sees this in the future, I guess. Historians?”

“Sees what?” Time’s confused face comes into focus and as he studies the slate, the screen shows a very unflattering view of his nostrils.

“I found a setting on the Sheikah Slate that lets you record stuff. Like a moving picture. I thought I could make a record of our journey.”

Time grunts and moves away.

“I’ve never understood that thing. As long as it’s not dangerous.”

“Why would it be dangerous?” Wild deadpans, “Now, are you done, can I carry on?”

Time chuckles and ruffles a disgruntled Wild’s hair before moving out of shot.

“Aaanyway… I’m the Hero of the Wild, and right now I’m making some hearty vegetable soup.” the slate moves round to show a big pot of steaming creamy broth, “We’ve got a long day of walking ahead, we have to get to Kakariko Village before sundown, so everyone needs their energy.” The camera once again flips around to show his face and he continues talking animatedly.

“It’s an average morning for us heroes, the sun is shining, everyone’s awake apart from Sky. Epona is packed up and ready to go and everyone’s ready for the day ahead!”

“Speak for yourself.” Wind’s noticeably tired voice comes from off-screen and Wild flips the slate to bring him in view. He is sitting on the grass in the clearing where they had set up camp for the night. Their belongings are now gone, packed up for the day, but Sky can be seen in the background sleeping with a single blanket thrown over him.

Wind’s expression is grumpy, and he sits slumped with his chin in his hands.

“Why do we have to get up so early every single morning?” he whines.

“Wind isn’t a morning person,” explains Wild from behind the slate.

“Cheer up, Wind,” says Warriors, coming over to join the conversation, “We’ve got to be on our guard, stay ahead of those monsters.”

“I don’t know how you’re so awake, you get up even earlier to do your hair!”

“Ah, it takes effort to stay this beautiful. Er- Wild, what are you doing?”

“Recording.”

“What?”

“That’s what the slate says. Recording. It’s like a moving picture that records everything we do.”

Warriors eyes widen before he suddenly grins charmingly and looks straight at the camera.

“Hello ladies and gentlemen. I am Link, the Hero of Warriors, and I am the leader of this unusual quest we are currently undertaking-“

“Shut up War, no you’re not,” says Wind.

“You’re so grouchy in the mornings.”

“It’s not my fault Time gets us up at the crack of dawn.”

Warriors shrugs.

“I’m used to it; I’ve been getting up this early for as long as I can remember.”

“Yeah, well not all of us are trained as army captains,” Wind grumbles just as another voice calls out “Warriors, get your ass over here!”

Warriors glares and the camera pans to Legend who is rifling through his bag of belongings.

“What,” Warriors says aggressively as he walks over.

“Did you steal my fire rod again?”

“No!”

“Well if it wasn’t you, who was it?!”

“Actually, Leg,” came a sheepish voice to the side, “that was me..”

The screen turns to show Hyrule standing guilty to the side.

“Oh that’s fine then,” says Legend flippantly.

“WHAT! Why is it fine when _he_ steals it?!”

“Because he’s Hyrule and you’re an idiot.”

Warriors scoffs dramatically and opens his mouth to say something before he gives up and storms off.

Legend smirks.

“Hey Wild,” he says, “when’s breakfast? I’m starving”

There is a second before Wild gasps loudly and the slate is suddenly dropped so it’s facing towards the floor.

“The soup!”

**[…End Recording]**

**[Recording…]**

“Hey, it’s your friend the Hero of the Wild, and I’m here again with your daily dose of the hero’s journey! We arrived at Kakariko Village late last night and Ollie the innkeeper was kind enough to let us sleep at the inn for free. We’re about to go and see Impa and find out why she sent us that letter from the mysterious time-travelling postman!”

Wild flips the screen to show the doorway to Impa’s house and the other heroes filtering in. Time looks around and frowns at him.

“Wild, turn that off, this is serious.”

“Will do, sorry Time.”

The slate is manoeuvred so it is tilted slightly towards the floor as if Wild is trying to pretend he’s not recording. The floor changes to purple carpeting as they enter the room.

“Ah, the bearers of the hero’s spirit, I have been expecting you,” comes Impa’s aged voice, slightly muffled in the background.

“We received your letter and we would like to do everything we can to help,” says Time who is slightly closer.

“Your eagerness to assist is greatly appreciated and we shall supply any resources you request to assist you on your journey should you accept. What I am asking of you is treacherous and you will be risking your lives by taking it on.”

“With all due respect, we risk our lives every day. Whatever it is you want from us, we can do it, no problem.”

“Your underestimation of the enemy could very well be your downfall, Hero of Legend.”

Legend huffs but says nothing.

“Ganon’s defeat has solved many problems, but has also created many more,” Impa continues, “we cannot pretend this war is over, for we fight every day to keep the evil from our land. Ganon’s worshippers, those who call themselves the Yiga Clan and mock the very integrity of the Sheikah Tribe, have not wavered in their attacks.”

The slate wobbles a bit as Wild shifts slightly where he stands.

“Their attacks have been worse than ever of late, and I cannot allow this to continue. However, the men I have sent to eradicate the new leader have not returned. I am truly sorry to ask this of you, but I fear you are the only combatants capable of this task.”

“Of course, ensuring the safety of Hyrule is our duty and I am sure we are all more than willing to take on this task,” says Time and there is a murmur of agreement that echoes around the room.

“Hyrule owes you a great debt. Link, you have faced the Yiga before, I trust you will be able to instigate a suitable strategy of attack?”

Another slight tremor of the slate.

“Good. Please consult Dorian for anything you may need for your journey,” concludes Impa, and with that Wild leaves the room again, the others footsteps clear behind him.

Once the slate, still facing towards the floor, shows green grass and the sound of rushing water, they stop.

“So, Wild, you’ve beat them before, what do you suggest?” comes Sky’s voice.

“Er… well last time I used stealth; I think that’s the best chance we have… I need to warn you though. The Yiga are- they’re crazy. They’re not like normal monsters, they’re people. Sheikah. They’re ruthless and now so more than ever now Ganon’s gone. We need to be careful.”

“Yeah, yeah, you beat them on your own last time, I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

“He’s right Wind, and so is Impa.” Says Warriors, “We’ve made the mistake of underestimating our enemy before, let’s not make it again.”

“Wild?” Time’s voice cuts through their conversation in an entirely different tone.

“Yeah?”

“Is that slate still on?”

“Er…”

“Turn it off right now! I thought I told you-“

**[…End Recording]**

**[Recording…]**

“How does this thing work, is it on?” comes a whisper before Wind and Warriors’ faces come into view, slightly off centre.

“I think so,” whispers Wind, “look, I can see our faces in the screen.”

“Dang, I’m even more handsome than I thought.” Warriors grins at the screen and swishes his hair to one side.

“Stop, we’re gonna miss it!”

“Ok sorry, sorry.”

The slate is turned around to show Legend and Hyrule sitting on a log around the fire. The others are sitting a little way away talking, but they are too far away to make out what they are saying. The two closest Hylians clutch steaming bowls of soup in their hands.

“Why aren’t they eating it,” whispers Wind impatiently from where he is clearly hiding with Warriors behind a bush.

“It’s probably too hot, just be patient.”

A few minutes go by before Hyrule brings a spoonful of the soup up to his mouth. Wind gasps excitedly as he puts it in his mouth and… nothing.

“What?! War are you sure you put the spice in?”

“Of course I did, I gave them the entire bottle between the two of them, it should have blown the top of his head off.”

“Nice soup Wild!” Hyrule shouts over to the others and a small thanks can be heard back.

“Oh my Goddess, he didn’t even notice!” Warriors laughs, still whispering, “Sometimes I could swear that boy is half Goron.”

However, at that moment, Legend decides to take a sip, and though they are a reasonable distance from where he sits, the way his face starts to turn a vivid shade of red is clear to see. He stares at the ground for a second before jumping a foot in the air, eyes wide.

“HYLIA, WHA- MILK!”

“What?” asks a flustered Hyrule.

“HYRULE. GET ME MILK. NOW.”

“Ok!” he squeals before running to get the milk from Wild who is looking over curiously. Legend’s eyes are streaming, and he seems to be drooling slightly. The sound of Wind and Warriors’ laughter, now uncontained and unworried about keeping quiet can be heard.

“Oh Goddess that was even better than I was expecting!”

“WARRIORS I KNOW IT WAS YOU, WHERE ARE YOU!”

“Quick, move, we need to get out of here!”

**[…End recording]**

**[Recording…]**

“Wild here. We’ve made it to the Yiga base and have got a plan of infiltration.” Wild’s face is in view with the desert behind him. He speaks quietly and his expression is slightly drawn with stress.

“If everything goes according to plan, they won’t even know we’re here until our swords are to the leaders throat… I just pray that everything does go to plan…”

“Stop worrying Wild,” comes Twilight’s voice and he comes into screen putting his hand on his protégé’s shoulder, “you’ve defeated them before, you can do it again. Besides, there are nine of us this time, they don’t stand a chance.”

“You don’t understand… The Yiga are the reason for all of this. Since Ganon’s defeat they’ve only grown in strength and numbers. I barely got away last time, we can’t underestimate them.”

“We’ll do it, you’ll see. Each one of us have faced worse and by this evening we’ll be celebrating our victories, you just watch.”

Wild nods sullenly. A beeping noise suddenly fills the air and Wild and Twilight perk up.

“Wind’s sent the signal to the slate, it’s time to go.”

“Remember the plan everyone,” says Time in a low voice as the slate flips to show Four, Twilight and Time walking through a passageway inside a large cave. Sand falls in ribbons from the ceiling, almost sparkling in the golden, unfiltered desert light. It is sort of beautiful in a slightly creepy way. 

“This is a stealth mission so it’s vital we stick to War’s strategy. Going in blades first just isn’t going to cut it this time.”

“Don’t worry old man, we got this,” comes Warriors’ voice from behind Wild, “it’s Hyrule you should be worried about, he’s the most likely to blow something up, and I’m sure Legend is keeping an eye on him.”

“We just have to hope they made it to their position,” whispers Four. They’re steadily nearing an orange glow coming from somewhere in the tunnel and here flags are hanging from the ceiling with the Yiga symbol on them, “we have no way of contacting them like we can with Wind and Sky.”

“We just have to trust in their skill,” responds Time, “Now, quiet, we’re getting close-“

A scream echoes throughout the tunnel. It is distorted and strange in the way it bounces off the large, cavernous stone walls, but it is unmistakeably…

“Legend!” Warriors exclaims and the slate drops slightly to show three pairs of legs running as fast as possible through the cavern, all thoughts of surreptitiousness forgotten in their panic.

“Wait!” hisses Time, “we can’t just go in their swords blazing, you’ll get us all killed!”

“Believe me old man,” Warriors spits back barely breaking his stride, “take it from a trained tactician: all stealth strategies have gone out the cave entrance, we’re _going_ to help the others.”

A pause and then, “I’m sorry, you’re right, go!”

The picture is a mess of limbs and blurred stone as they rush to the hideout, their breaths heavy and restless. The first Yiga member they inevitably encounter is a footsoldier, one of the smaller members of the clan, but all the more nimble and lithe for it. 

The slate is angled just right to see Time slash his Biggoron sword through the air, catching on the soldier’s tunic before they disappear in a cloud of notes. They appear again in front of Four this time and he manages to deal a fatal blow just under the ribcage. The Yiga disappears again and doesn’t come back.

They encounter three more clan members as they run through the makeshift wooden halls of the hideout. One of them is a Blademaster, but Time deals with them in under a minute, his sheer strength no match for even someone of that size.

“They must be through here,” whispers Wild as they come across a pair of large, ornamental, wooden doors. He is holding the slate upright now.

“It’s strange,” he continues to whisper, “The Yiga’s strength comes in numbers, but so far they’ve come at us one at a time.”

“We need to prepare for one heck of a fight on the other side of these doors then,” replies Time, “It must be where they all are.”

“It’s quiet…” murmurs Four uncertainly, “If the others were fighting, we should be able to hear them.”

“There’s only one way to find out,” whispers Warriors, and he steps forward to open the doors.

Once they open, the slate is overwhelmed with bright white desert light and before the picture can level out, the sounds of a battle can be heard all around it. Blades clang together and people are shouting from both sides.

The lens finally gets used to the sudden influx of light and the white fades to show pure chaos. Wild has clearly dropped the slate in a sand dune or something of the like, because the picture is being recorded from the floor and the whole battlefield is in clear view. Yiga footsoldiers are appearing and disappearing every which way, paper notes flying through the air making it look like the fighters are surrounded by a swarm of angry bees.

Legend is closest to the slate, his hand pressed against his stomach and face drawn in agony, but fighting valiantly against two footsoldiers nonetheless. Warriors is next to him close by and his eyes keep flickering towards the veteran worriedly as he fights one of the larger Blademasters. The others are scattered about the sand, and though they are outnumbered, they are fiercely standing their ground.

“Sky, behind you!” comes a shout and Sky spins around from where he has just tackled a footsoldier to face a Blademaster coming at him at full speed. He dodges then manoeuvres his sword to go straight through the Yiga’s chest.

“Thanks!”

Time and Twilight fight side by side, working in tandem to defeat a hoard of Yiga who circle them. They parry and strike as though they have been fighting alongside one another all their lives, a perfect harmony of opposing fighting styles.

Hyrule is a force of nature. It almost seems like he is engulfed in fire as he tears his flaming sword through the air with malice, every so often coming a little too close to singing Wind’s hair who is fighting nearby.

The group work together perfectly, picking up the slack when another slows, defending each other when needed. It is chaos, yes, but it is ordered.

That is until Warriors lets out a shout. There are two Blademasters closing in on him threateningly as he scrabbles on the ground having tripped up a few seconds previously. Legend looks over to him but he is preoccupied with an increasing number of footsoldiers, straining from the wound in his side.

Warriors struggles to get up, but one of the Blademasters knocks his sword from his grip and takes a swipe with it’s own vast claymore and the Hyrulean captain barely dodges in time. As it is, the sword catches the side of his cheekbone leaving a small red slash which promptly starts to bleed down his face.

“Warriors!” shouts Time, but he is simply too far away. Warriors’ expression is fearful, yet a determined glint still persists despite the bleak situation. All he can do is raise an arm in defence as the Blademaster once again raises his sword.

Just when it looks like Warriors has accepted his fate, a huge wolf with markings around its eyes and a shackle on its ankle jumps in front of him, its teeth bared as it snarls at the enemy with all the fierce spite in the world.

“Wolfie?” exclaims Warriors before the wolf tackles the Blademasters to the ground, the Yiga no match for 700 pounds of pure fur and muscle. They are dead in seconds.

Warriors lets out a laugh which sounds half hysterical before grabbing his sword and jumping up to once again join the fight.

It is then that a loud rumbling fills the air. The picture from the slate wobbles as the very ground vibrates and the entire battle falters in eerie tandem. Everyone looks to the rightful something offscreen.

“It’s her! She must be the leader!” shouts Wild above the roaring. A sandstorm is picking up, their hair flowing around their faces and paper notes flying everywhere as a hurricane forms, swirling around with terrifying energy.

Then there is a crack, a bright light and the picture goes black.

**[…End Recording]**

**[Recording…]**

Four’s face appears looking intently at the screen. The sound of birds can be heard over the light muttering of the Links, and trees sway lazily in the background against a cool blue sky.

“Wild! I think I got it to work!”

Footsteps come rushing over before Wild comes into view.

“Thank Hylia! Zelda would have killed me. You’re the best Four, I owe you one!”

“Maybe you could stop breaking the swords I make for you?” he asks hopefully.

Wild chuckles nervously.

“Ha, sure thing Four.” Four rolls his eyes and lets out a fond chuckle.

“Well, here you are,” he says before handing the slate over to the champion.

“Oh! It’s still recording! Hey! Hero of the Wild here again, although if you’ve watched the other recordings you probably know who I am by now… We defeated the Yiga clan, and their leader-“

A cheer comes from offscreen and Wild smiles.

“She was a lot more advanced than the last one. They must have invented a new kind of technology that harnesses the power of storms. I think the slate must have got hit by lightning, the storm was really powerful.” Wild shudders.

“It was so cool!” Wind exclaims excitedly before coming over to get in the shot, “Time was all like ‘a storm is no match for me’ and he went straight through the hurricane, he must have got so much sand in his eyes but he started fighting with the weird leader lady which must have made the storm go down. Then we all went in and defeated her and all the other Yiga Clan people ran away. Cowards.”

“It was a close one,” continues Wild with a smile, “and Legend was injured pretty badly, Hyrule’s fixing him up now.”

He flips the slate to show Legend and Hyrule sitting on the ground. Legend is wincing, his face pale as Hyrule dabs red potion onto a nasty looking wound just below his ribs. Blood stains his tunic and Warriors hovers nearby, clearly worried.

“He’s going to be ok right?” the captain asks nervously. He can’t seem to keep still and shifts his weight constantly from one foot to another.

“Gee, I didn’t know you cared, pretty boy,” Legend says dryly, though his mouth twitches upwards at the edge ever so slightly.

“What, I-“ Warriors splutters, “of course I care! It was my plan that got you into this mess in the first place, we should have never split up.”

“Not your fault,” Legend says through gritted teeth as Hyrule finishes cleaning the wound.

“No, it was. I knew the risks; we should have gone in together. It was stupid, I’m really sorry.”

Hyrule finishes bandaging Legend’s torso and he stands up with a ferocious glare.

“Look here, Pretty Boy,” he begins, gaining on him, and Warriors looks startled at the sudden fire in his eyes, “you are the best tactician this side of anywhere and I trust no one’s battle plans more. Yes, it’s not going to work every time, but we would be long dead if it wasn’t for you, so don’t you dare put yourself down.”

Legend is standing unreasonably close to the Captain, his finger pointed into his chest.

“Ok,” he squeaks back in a very un-war-like way.

“Good,” Legend states before storming off leaving a very alarmed Captain in his wake.

“A fierce bromance…” the slate turns to show Sky sitting and gazing wistfully towards Legend and Warriors, “I hope you caught that on that slate of yours. A relationship like that will truly go down in history.”

Wild snorts.

“Don’t worry, they’ll be at each other’s throats again by tomorrow morning, just you wait,” he says.

“Wild, can you start making food now,” comes Wind’s voice, ever so slightly whiney, “I’m _starving.”_

“Sure, let me just-“

**[…End Recording]**

**[Recording…]**

“Why do I need the slate Wind?”

The slate is being carried through woodland, the sky darkening as dusk falls and Wild’s voice is sharp in the silence.

“Shhh!” cries Wind, possibly louder than Wild had previously spoken, but his voice is a quiet whisper when he says: “just follow me, you _need_ to record this!”

“Ok, ok,” Wild laughs quietly and the top of Wind’s head can be seen as he pulls Wild along.

They come to the clearing where some of the others had set up camp earlier whilst Wild collected supplies for their next meal. Wind points to something and Wild lets out a little excited whispered “Oh my Goddess!” as he manoeuvres the slate to face the object of fascination.

Warriors and Legend sit up against the bottom of a tree. They are both leaning against each other, asleep, and Warriors’ scarf is wrapped around both their shoulders.

“Cute isn’t it?” comes Sky’s voice, also a whisper.

“I’ve never seen them so relaxed!”

“Warriors was really worried about Legend all day,” says Wind with barely contained glee, “he kept going on and on about how it was his fault he got injured and now this!”

“I know we’re going to tease them later,” murmurs Four who has also apparently joined the conversation, “but this has got to be the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.”

“Hey, what about Wolfie?!”

“Wolfie’s not cute, he’s fierce.”

“Ok, whatever you say Twilight.”

Footsteps can be heard as all the Links gather round to study the endearing scene before them.

“I’m never going to let either of them forget this.”

“Ah, they deserve a good rest. It’s been a hard few days for all of us,” says Time.

“That it has.”

**[…End Recording]**

**Author's Note:**

> So as you can see, I thought I'd give myself a challenge and try a different writing style this time, and let me tell you it is difficult writing from a camera's point of view. You have to show everyone's emotion's entirely through speech and body language, not to mention taking into account that the camera can only show one section of what's happening at a time. I'm not sure if it worked out the best but I had fun, and I hope it's vaguely ok! Graves' art deserves the best.
> 
> Also thanks to Kae on the discord server for giving it a readthrough :)


End file.
